


A Captain By Any Other Name

by parkitcharlie



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21555211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkitcharlie/pseuds/parkitcharlie
Summary: “All that in mind as I’m sitting here elbow deep in the guts of the Unreliable got me thinkin’” she turned to face her captain head-on.“Why do you tell everyone we meet that your name is Alex Hawthorne?”
Relationships: The Captain & Parvati Holcomb
Comments: 7
Kudos: 126





	A Captain By Any Other Name

Montie hated this. Sitting here doing nothing. The landing hadn’t even been that rough, ADA said the ship should be at least 89% functional. It’s called the Unreliable after all, shouldn’t that be enough?

But Parvati insisted and so here they were. First they walked around the outside looking for hull damage, then they wandered about the inside checking for broken systems and crooked picture frames, and now they stood in the heat of the engine room; Montie hovering slightly over the engineer’s shoulder trying her best not to look as impatient as she felt.

She should be out there, helping to take down The Board, rescuing The Hope. Those people had been waiting long enough.  _ She  _ had waited long enough.

The engineer was squatting below her, grease-stained hands atop grease-stained knees. Her hair piled haphazardly atop her head, rogue strands sticking out here and there. When Montie had first visited her cabin after Parvati had settled in, she had assumed from the state of things that this new engineer was just a disorganized person. She certainly looked the part. She’d soon discovered this was not the case, however. That, despite the appearance of chaos and clutter, there wasn’t an object that Parvati couldn’t find in it all. Everything had its place but where exactly that place was to a mystery to all but Parvati and (amazingly enough) SAM.

“Um, Captain?” Parvati’s voice snapped Montie out of her trance.

“Hmm?”

Pavarti rocked back on her heels, pausing to swipe at a few bits of hair that had glued themselves to her forehead in the heat.

“You’re kinda blocking my light”

“Oh. Sorry.” Montie felt a blush creeping up the back of her neck and her hand rushed to cover it.  _ So much for not looking impatient. _ She took an exaggerated step back, and nodded gruffly as if to say, carry on. Montie expected that would be the end of it but something in Parvati’s brown eyes suggested that the break in silence was far from over.

As if to confirm the captain’s suspicions, Parvati stood. Tugging the rag off her shoulder, she wiped her hands, that faraway look still in her eyes. Montie needed to nip this in the bud. Now.

“Captain can I ask you somewhat of a personal question?”

“Parvati, we really need to get back on the road”

She regretted it as soon as she said it.

“Oh, right, I know that,” Parvati deflated. She let out a sharp intake of breath and then continued hurt evident in her voice though she tried to cover it with her normal infectious energy. “She’ll be right as rain in no time!”

_ Great, now I’ve done it.  _ Montie thought.  _ I’ve gone and kicked the dog. _

“You can ask just...keep working while you do it, yeah?” Montie offered.

“You sure, Captain?” Parvati asked, then apparently deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth she slid the wrench from her boot and got straight to work.

“Well Junlei and I were talkin’ about ships, right? Her on the Groundbreaker and me the Unreliable. And she was saying that working on the Groundbreaker helps her feel closer to her family now that they’re gone, you know?” She paused to give the bolt she was working on a firm tug.

“‘Cause when an engineer or like, a captain, is spending so much time workin’ on their ship... they end up leavin’ a part of themselves in the works,” Montie felt her lips upturn in spite of herself. That was  _ exactly  _ the kind of romantic idea she’d expect from Parvati.

“Junlei, her family has been on Groundbreaker for generations, fixin’ things and makin’ improvements here and there. That ships is practically her own flesh and blood! Like imagine the stories running in that ship’s vents! All the history!”

“Parvati,” Montie cut her off. It was sweet to hear the girl ramble but they did have a schedule to keep. “you said you had a question for me?”

A blush crept up the back of the engineer’s neck as she ducked her head.

“Right...” she cleared her throat “Sorry, uh,” she drummed her fingers searching for her train of thought. “All that in mind as I’m sitting here elbow deep in the guts of the Unreliable got me thinkin’” she turned to face her captain head-on.

“Why do you tell everyone we meet that your name is Alex Hawthorne?”

Montie blinked. That definitely wasn’t where she saw this conversation going.

“Like, I know you’re a pretty slick talker and you’ve gotten us out of more than one sticky situation because of it. Just, to be frank, I don’t see why you’d  _ keep _ doing it. S’not as if you knew the guy, I only sorta-know his ship. Heck, the only one of us who even met him is ADA and when I try to ask her about him she well, you know.”

Parvati sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand.

“Just wonderin’ if there was any reason to it I s’pose”

Montie opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out.

_ Was  _ there any reason to it?

Sure the lie had its uses at first but now? There was no reason to tell the bartender at The Yacht Club or the SubLight employee they asked for directions. And yet each time the opportunity presented itself the lie tumbled out and before she knew it the other party was smiling and saying “Pleased to meet you, Alex” and other niceties and they were on their way.

She did it for the humor.

She did it for the thrill.

She didn’t know why she did it.

If the captain had to guess, the heart of the issue probably lay in the fact that Alex Hawthorne was a roguish scoundrel with a ship and an adventure straight out of the serials whereas Montie Greenbriar was a 70 year old popsicle lost to time.

Montie shook her head slightly, trying to clear the sweat that must have dripped into her eyes. She blinked and saw Parvati watching her curiously. Their eyes met for only a moment before Parvati broke the gaze, looking pointedly at the floor.

“You don’t have to tell me, Captain. I was just-“

“No! It’s not that! I uh...” Montie trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck. “I guess I don’t really know the answer myself.” The engineer was looking at her again like she expected more so Montie swallowed the lump in her throat and continued.

“I woke up, having no idea where I was, how long I was out, what had happened to the world...just truly out of it all. And then, before I could even begin to process what had happened to me, Welles shot me into space.”

Parvati wore a sympathetic look.

“That’s awful Captain”

“Well, yes, but the real kicker is that my contact, Alex Hawthorne, the  _ real  _ Alex Hawthorne, got himself squashed flat under my escape pod.”

Parvati dropped the wrench she had been fiddling with.

“Wait, that’s how Alex died? You-You squished him on re-entry?!”

Montie felt her eyebrows scrunch as she instinctively raised her hands in defense.

“I did not  _ squish  _ him on purpose, I barely knew what was going on, remember? If anyone is to blame it’s him for standing in the damn loading zone anyways. Or Welles! It was his escape pod! I didn’t even have motor functions yet” That last bit wasn’t exactly true but the engineer didn’t need to know that.

Parvati bent over, scooping up the wrench and shaking her head.

“I’m sorry Cap, just...wow. What a way to go.” She turned her back, refocused on the engine “Did you, um. Is he...the body?” She glanced over her shoulder, eyebrow raised.

“You mean did I bury him?”

Parvati nodded. Montie bit her lip. To be honest the idea of burying the man had never even occurred to her, but saying that out loud—to Parvati of all people—well it sounded kind of bad.

“.... _ Well…” _ she started, searching for an excuse.

“Captain!” Pavarti whirled back around to face her, leveling the wrench at her chest “You just left him there!?”

“I had a lot going on okay?” Montie threw her hands in the air. “He’s probably still there, would  _ you  _ like to go bury him?”

She paused, considering it. After a moment she wrinkled her nose and turned away.

“No, I reckon I don’t want to see that, Captain”

She worked in silence for a few minutes. Montie watched over her shoulder hands folded neatly behind her back. She was careful to keep out of the way, not wanting to set off another line of questioning that would see other more dubious activities brought to light. 

After a moment Parvati stepped back with a satisfied nod.

“ADA, can you run a diagnostic for me real quick?”

The overhead speaker crackled to life.

“Of course. One moment...”

The engineer turned to look at Montie, arms folded over her chest. She didn’t look like she was mad at the captain, which Montie was grateful for. In fact, she almost looked amused.

“I guess I didn’t really answer your question, huh?” Montie said, leaning back against the wall. Parvati tilted her head.

“No, you did,” she knelt down putting tools back into her tool box. Montie wondered again how she managed to find anything in that mess.“Way I see it, you were just looking for a way to wrest a little more control over your circumstances. Alex’s death gave you the chance you needed to reinvent yourself.”

Montie blinked.

“Yeah...I guess I did,” She pushed off the wall, standing up straight. “Well that, and one other reason,” Parvati stood up dusting off her knees.

“Oh yeah?” she said without looking up.

“It’s funny to lie to people”

“Captain!” Parvati tried to be disapproving but her smile gave her away. Montie returned the gesture with a smirk of her own, stooping to pick up the toolbox for her. 

Above them, a burst of static rang out from the speaker, a sound akin to the clearing of a throat.

“Parvati, I am pleased to report the engines are now operating at 93% capacity”

Montie quirked an eyebrow, holding out the toolbox to Parvati. The engineer slowly looked between the tools and her captain, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“I mean, it  _ is  _ called the Unreliable, that’s probably fine for now, right Captain?” Montie grinned.

“But we have to stop back at Groundbreaker soon so that Junlei can take a look at her, alright?” Parvati held out her hand indicating they should shake on it. Montie rolled her eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that the engineer had other reasons for wanting to see Junlei but she wasn’t going to push it now. She reached out to shake but Pavarti pulled back.

“And, you have to go give Alex a proper burial next time we’re near Edgewater!”

“A proper—Parvati he’s probably rapt food by now! There’s gonna be nothing left to bury!”

The engineer’s nose crinkled in disgust but she shook her head clear of the thought, holding her ground. Montie tried again.

“Well jokes on you, because I'm the captain and I get to do what I want! ADA, fire up the engines!” The room began to hum as the computer ran through the start up checks. Satisfied, Montie turned on a heel heading for the ladder. Parvati stood, unfazed. 

“All the more reason you should at least try. He is the reason you even have a ship to captain after all” The engineer called after her. Montie glanced back over her shoulder and saw Parvati gesturing around the room pointedly.

_ Well she’s got me there. _

With a groan, Montie caved. She trudged back over to where Pavarti stood sticking out her hand to meet the other in an exasperated handshake.

Together they carried the tools out of the engine room and down the ladder and through cargo bay. Montie could feel the vibrations of the ship under foot. Her ship.  _ The Unreliable.  _ She looked up at the emblem in the entryway, admiring it.

Parvati tucked the toolbox under her arm and gave the captain a nod before heading upstairs.

To her right ADA called out from the cockpit.

“Captain, shall we resume course to Cascadia?”

Montie stared up at the emblem, Parvati’s words echoing in her head.

“Actually, set course for Edgewater. There’s something I gotta do first”

**Author's Note:**

> Well I haven’t written anything in months but this whole scenario just popped into my mind last week and wouldn’t let go. Consider it my love letter to the most underrated part of The Outer Worlds—lying about your name to everyone you meet.
> 
> Oh also I almost named this “Call Me By Your Name” but my girlfriend said that was quote “too funny don’t do that”


End file.
